Former Allentown principal files new suit against district

Jose Rosado, mayor of Fountain Hill and former Allentown School District administrator, has refiled a lawsuit against the district following his termination by the school board.

Jose Rosado, mayor of Fountain Hill and former Allentown School District administrator, has refiled a lawsuit against the district following his termination by the school board. (FILE PHOTO, THE MORNING CALL)

An Allentown School District principal who claimed he was targeted for raising an alarm about discrimination against minority students has refiled a lawsuit against the district following his termination by the school board.

Jose Rosado, the district's director of alternative education, originally sued the district in September alleging that administrators targeted him for termination after he complained that minority students who needed special education programs were being "dumped" into the district's schools for disruptive students.

He withdrew the suit in November to await the outcome of a hearing on his employment before the school board, but resigned in December, saying that his attorney had concerns about the hearing process.

The new lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Allentown names Superintendent Russ Mayo and chief operations officer David Wildonger as defendants. It alleges that Rosado was subjected to a hostile work environment and discriminated against as a result of his efforts to protect the rights of black and Hispanic children.

Rosado also claims he was denied a fair hearing before the school board regarding his employment when Mayo and Wildonger began meeting privately with members of the school board in an effort to turn them against Rosado.

Finally, Rosado alleges that the district violated his First Amendment rights by retaliating against him (for speaking out about rule violations and reporting them to the state Department of Education) by suspending him and taking steps to fire him.

Rosado, who oversaw alternative education programs in the district's William Penn and Jackson buildings, claims in the suit that principals from other buildings in the regular education program were referring students to his schools who would not normally be designated as disruptive.

According to Rosado's lawsuit, Mayo accused him of interfering with the placement of students and Rosado insisted that he was attempting to ensure other principals recognized the due process rights of students who required special education services.

Rosado in 2011 contacted the education department, which performed an audit and cited the district for violations. Based on the timing of the audit, Mayo and Wildonger knew that Rosado had complained, the suit says.

The suit alleges that Wildonger spoke with Rosado again in 2013 about bypassing federal requirements by labeling special education students as disruptive in an effort to save the district money. After confirming that falsely labeling students in that way was illegal, Rosado again contacted the education department.

When he refused to reclassify students as disruptive, he took medical leave until last May. Upon his return, district officials informed Rosado they intended to fire him, the suit says.